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No, it doesn't. "FOSS" (and "FLOSS", which the FSF prefers) is used as an encompassing term for the two main political camps of "free/libre software" and "ope
by eesmith 4y ago
No, it doesn't.
"FOSS" (and "FLOSS", which the FSF prefers) is used as an encompassing term for the two main political camps of "free/libre software" and "open source software".
It's meant to express a neutral position about the underlying politics.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software or Stallman's essays at https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.... ("The terms “free software” and “open source” stand for almost the same range of programs.") and https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/floss-and-foss.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/floss-and-foss.en.html ("A researcher studying practices and methods used by developers in the free software community decided that these questions were independent of the developers' political views, so he used the term “FLOSS,” ... Others use the term “FOSS,”.
To be clear, there are a small number of licenses which the Open Source Initiative say are open source where the FSF says are not free software (eg, the NASA Open Source Agreement v1.3.)
But that's not why people use the term FOSS.